Commitments That Cost
The Power of Moving Forward: When Commitment Transforms Community
There's something extraordinary that happens when a community decides to stop looking backward and starts moving forward together. Not with reckless abandon, but with intentional faith—the kind that requires sacrifice, service, and a willingness to believe that the best days aren't behind us, but ahead of us.
Two years can change everything. In just 730 days, a spark can become a movement. Lives can be transformed. Marriages can be restored. Hope can rise where despair once reigned. But none of it happens by accident. It happens when ordinary people make extraordinary commitments to something bigger than themselves.
The Anatomy of a Movement
Movements don't start with buildings or budgets. They start with belief. They start when someone looks at a city, a neighborhood, a community and refuses to accept that things will always be the way they've always been. They start when faith becomes more than a Sunday morning routine and transforms into a lifestyle of service.
The gospel still works. It's not outdated. It's not irrelevant. And when lived out authentically, it has the power to change everything it touches. But here's the uncomfortable truth: the gospel only moves through people who are willing to move with it.
Forward isn't just a direction. It's a declaration. It's saying that we refuse to be paralyzed by the past or intimidated by the present. Forward is where faith lives, where families are healed, where futures are transformed.
The Towel and Basin Principle
In John 13, we encounter one of the most powerful demonstrations of servant leadership ever recorded. Jesus, knowing that his crucifixion was days away, knowing that betrayal was sitting at the table with him, knowing the weight of what was coming—his response to all that pressure wasn't self-preservation. It was service.
He took a towel and a basin and washed feet. Not the feet of the faithful, but the feet of everyone—including the one who would betray him. This wasn't a symbolic gesture. This was a revolutionary statement about what matters most in the kingdom of God.
Service doesn't begin with action. It starts with the right attitude.
You can perform an act of service with the wrong heart and miss the entire point. The difference between going through the motions and genuine service is the posture of your heart. It's the difference between obligation and worship. Between duty and devotion.
Jesus said it plainly: "Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them." Not if you know them. If you *do* them. Knowledge without action is just information. But knowledge combined with obedient action? That's transformation.
Breaking Free from Self-Preservation
There's a disease that plagues so many of us: self-preservation. We become so focused on protecting what's ours—our money, our time, our comfort, our margin—that we miss what God is trying to do through us.
Self-preservation whispers: "Hold on tight. Protect what you have. You can't afford to give. You need every resource for yourself."
But faith shouts: "Open your hands! God has given you resources not just for yourself, but to be a conduit of blessing to others!"
Here's a revolutionary truth: **serving others breaks the grip of self-focus**. When you're washing someone's feet, you can't hold onto your ego. When you're genuinely serving, you can't be consumed with yourself. Service forces you to see beyond your own needs, your own struggles, your own limitations.
For those battling anxiety, depression, or mental health challenges, this is especially important. So much of our internal struggle comes from an unhealthy self-focus—not because we're selfish, but because we're seeing ourselves from the wrong perspective. When we see ourselves as God sees us—valuable, worthy, created with purpose—and when we begin to serve others from that place, something shifts. The enemy's lies lose their power.
Small Sacrifices, Big Impact
The most significant transformations rarely come from grand gestures. They come from consistent, small sacrifices made over time.
Small sacrifices consistently make a big impact eventually.
It's true in fitness. It's true in parenting. It's true in relationships. And it's absolutely true in the kingdom of God. The people who change the world aren't always the ones with the most resources. They're the ones who are faithful with what they have.
Five dollars a week doesn't sound like much. But over seven months, from a community of committed people, those small sacrifices add up to something that can sustain a movement, expand a mission, and transform a county.
We find money for what we value. We find time for what matters to us. The question isn't whether we have the resources. The question is: what are we willing to sacrifice for something that will outlive us?
God's Strategy to Change the World
If you want to know God's strategy for changing the world, look at Jesus. He didn't come with political power. He didn't come with military might. He didn't come with economic leverage. He came with a towel and a basin. He came as a servant.
Serving is God's strategy to change the world.
Want to address hunger? Serve.
Want to combat homelessness? Serve.
Want to strengthen marriages? Serve each other.
Want to impact education? Serve teachers and students.
Want to transform a community? Serve it.
There are people in every community already doing this work—teachers pouring their hearts into students, volunteers showing up week after week, individuals quietly making a difference. When the church partners with these servants, when we come alongside those already doing kingdom work, the impact multiplies exponentially.
The Cross We Bear
On a hill called Calvary, Jesus didn't just take a towel. He took a cross. That cross represents the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate service, the ultimate commitment to a mission bigger than himself.
Every follower of Jesus is called to pick up their cross. Not literally, but figuratively—to embrace the cost of commitment, to accept that following Jesus means dying to self and living for something greater.
Giving isn't just about money. It's an act of worship. When we give our resources, our time, our talents, we're declaring that God is worthy of our best. We're saying that we trust Him more than we trust our bank accounts. We're demonstrating that we believe His kingdom is worth our investment.
Forward Requires Everything
Forward requires our hands—to do the work.
Forward requires our hearts—to have the right attitude.
Forward requires our sacrifice—to give what costs us something.
Forward requires our commitment—to stay when it's hard.
The question isn't whether God can do something extraordinary. The question is whether we're willing to be part of it. Whether we're willing to move from spectators to participants. From consumers to contributors. From attendees to committed members of a movement.
The best is ahead. But it will only be realized if we're willing to sacrifice for it, serve toward it, and commit to it with everything we have.
The choice is simple: stay comfortable or move forward. The path is clear. The question is, will you take it?
Two years can change everything. In just 730 days, a spark can become a movement. Lives can be transformed. Marriages can be restored. Hope can rise where despair once reigned. But none of it happens by accident. It happens when ordinary people make extraordinary commitments to something bigger than themselves.
The Anatomy of a Movement
Movements don't start with buildings or budgets. They start with belief. They start when someone looks at a city, a neighborhood, a community and refuses to accept that things will always be the way they've always been. They start when faith becomes more than a Sunday morning routine and transforms into a lifestyle of service.
The gospel still works. It's not outdated. It's not irrelevant. And when lived out authentically, it has the power to change everything it touches. But here's the uncomfortable truth: the gospel only moves through people who are willing to move with it.
Forward isn't just a direction. It's a declaration. It's saying that we refuse to be paralyzed by the past or intimidated by the present. Forward is where faith lives, where families are healed, where futures are transformed.
The Towel and Basin Principle
In John 13, we encounter one of the most powerful demonstrations of servant leadership ever recorded. Jesus, knowing that his crucifixion was days away, knowing that betrayal was sitting at the table with him, knowing the weight of what was coming—his response to all that pressure wasn't self-preservation. It was service.
He took a towel and a basin and washed feet. Not the feet of the faithful, but the feet of everyone—including the one who would betray him. This wasn't a symbolic gesture. This was a revolutionary statement about what matters most in the kingdom of God.
Service doesn't begin with action. It starts with the right attitude.
You can perform an act of service with the wrong heart and miss the entire point. The difference between going through the motions and genuine service is the posture of your heart. It's the difference between obligation and worship. Between duty and devotion.
Jesus said it plainly: "Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them." Not if you know them. If you *do* them. Knowledge without action is just information. But knowledge combined with obedient action? That's transformation.
Breaking Free from Self-Preservation
There's a disease that plagues so many of us: self-preservation. We become so focused on protecting what's ours—our money, our time, our comfort, our margin—that we miss what God is trying to do through us.
Self-preservation whispers: "Hold on tight. Protect what you have. You can't afford to give. You need every resource for yourself."
But faith shouts: "Open your hands! God has given you resources not just for yourself, but to be a conduit of blessing to others!"
Here's a revolutionary truth: **serving others breaks the grip of self-focus**. When you're washing someone's feet, you can't hold onto your ego. When you're genuinely serving, you can't be consumed with yourself. Service forces you to see beyond your own needs, your own struggles, your own limitations.
For those battling anxiety, depression, or mental health challenges, this is especially important. So much of our internal struggle comes from an unhealthy self-focus—not because we're selfish, but because we're seeing ourselves from the wrong perspective. When we see ourselves as God sees us—valuable, worthy, created with purpose—and when we begin to serve others from that place, something shifts. The enemy's lies lose their power.
Small Sacrifices, Big Impact
The most significant transformations rarely come from grand gestures. They come from consistent, small sacrifices made over time.
Small sacrifices consistently make a big impact eventually.
It's true in fitness. It's true in parenting. It's true in relationships. And it's absolutely true in the kingdom of God. The people who change the world aren't always the ones with the most resources. They're the ones who are faithful with what they have.
Five dollars a week doesn't sound like much. But over seven months, from a community of committed people, those small sacrifices add up to something that can sustain a movement, expand a mission, and transform a county.
We find money for what we value. We find time for what matters to us. The question isn't whether we have the resources. The question is: what are we willing to sacrifice for something that will outlive us?
God's Strategy to Change the World
If you want to know God's strategy for changing the world, look at Jesus. He didn't come with political power. He didn't come with military might. He didn't come with economic leverage. He came with a towel and a basin. He came as a servant.
Serving is God's strategy to change the world.
Want to address hunger? Serve.
Want to combat homelessness? Serve.
Want to strengthen marriages? Serve each other.
Want to impact education? Serve teachers and students.
Want to transform a community? Serve it.
There are people in every community already doing this work—teachers pouring their hearts into students, volunteers showing up week after week, individuals quietly making a difference. When the church partners with these servants, when we come alongside those already doing kingdom work, the impact multiplies exponentially.
The Cross We Bear
On a hill called Calvary, Jesus didn't just take a towel. He took a cross. That cross represents the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate service, the ultimate commitment to a mission bigger than himself.
Every follower of Jesus is called to pick up their cross. Not literally, but figuratively—to embrace the cost of commitment, to accept that following Jesus means dying to self and living for something greater.
Giving isn't just about money. It's an act of worship. When we give our resources, our time, our talents, we're declaring that God is worthy of our best. We're saying that we trust Him more than we trust our bank accounts. We're demonstrating that we believe His kingdom is worth our investment.
Forward Requires Everything
Forward requires our hands—to do the work.
Forward requires our hearts—to have the right attitude.
Forward requires our sacrifice—to give what costs us something.
Forward requires our commitment—to stay when it's hard.
The question isn't whether God can do something extraordinary. The question is whether we're willing to be part of it. Whether we're willing to move from spectators to participants. From consumers to contributors. From attendees to committed members of a movement.
The best is ahead. But it will only be realized if we're willing to sacrifice for it, serve toward it, and commit to it with everything we have.
The choice is simple: stay comfortable or move forward. The path is clear. The question is, will you take it?
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2025
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